Conventionally the brake pipe on a railway car is normally situated off to one side of and parallel to the longitudinal center axis of the car, so that the end cock connected to the end of the brake pipe must, by necessity, be operated from that side only unless the trainman enters between the cars on the opposite side and either crawls under or reaches over the coupler to gain access to the end cock. This practice places the trainman in danger of being injured. Ideally, the end cock should be located mid-way between the two sides of the car such as to be conveniently accessible for operation from either side of the car.